I love pork. And while we don’t see it too much on our bike tours in the coastal Veneto region, except when used for the myriad of cured meat products there, you will see it used more and more as you move north into Trentino-Alto Adige. Ski season is approaching, and we are anxiously awaiting opening day here at Sugarloaf, ME (my winter home), as well as ski holidays in Italy, so comfort food is on my mind.

During my last trip to Italy, the apple harvest was in full swing, and it was the same situation here in New England when I returned. So I started a little research into how to combine the two, as pork pairs well with fruit. The “Silver Spoon” cookbook, the self-proclaimed “bible of authentic Italian cooking” had a recipe for Arrosto con le mele – perfect – with a little adaptation.

The original recipe calls for a boned pork loin. I prefer roasts with the bones in, as my favorite part is gnawing the meat off of the bones. Or I take the left-over bones (not the one’s I gnaw on) and throw them into the freezer, and when I have enough I make some pork stock. I purchased the pork from my favorite local source of meat, Tendercrop Farm in Newbury, MA. They produce their own chickens, grass-fed beef, and pork. They usually sell pork chops and boneless pork roasts stuffed with their own apple stuffing, but the friendly staff there is always willing to go out back and grab a bone-in roast for me. Basically I’m buying bone-in pork chops before they’ve been chopped. They cut through the bottom portion of each bone, making it easy to separate into chops after it has been roasted. You can see where they’ve cut through in the photo.

The apples and fennel came from Long Hill Orchard, the CSA I have been a member of for three years now. Cindy Adams and her team do a fantastic job, the produce is always beautiful and she has quite a variety all season long. Now there are six or seven different varieties of apples to enjoy. Many of the same varieties are available in Northern Italy, where Trentino-Alto Adige alone produces over 60% of the apples in Italy.

I tried the recipe a couple of weeks ago, and used a Veneto red wine and beef stock rather than vegetable stock. The sauce, a combination of apples, red wine and beef stock was a not-too attractive purple color. On my second attempt, I went with white wine and beef stock. I preferred the flavor of white wine version, and it was certainly more attractive!

Both the original recipe and my version specify searing the pork roast on the stove before roasting. I like this – it insures a nice caramelized surface on the pork, but it not absolutely necessary if it is not your thing. I do spend some time on this process, making sure every surface is seared. Sometimes that means I am holding the roast in place with a dish towel as I sear an oddly shaped side that won’t cooperate and balance on its own.

After searing, I placed the roast bone side down in the pan, and added the remaining ingredients. I covered the sauce ingredients, but not the roast itself, with parchment paper and then foil. The parchment paper is needed as the acid in the wine can react with the metal foil. The roast I leave uncovered, as I want a nice crisp outside, not soggy.

When the roast is done, I remove it from the pan, mash up the apples and fennel in the sauce with a potato masher, and reduce until it is the consistency I wanted. I served this with a bread and kale gnocchi, also hailing from Trentino.

Roast Pork with Apples

Trentino-Alto Adige is the region north of the Veneto, extending up to the Austrian border. We will visit this region on our ski trips, as well as on bikes next season. As this area was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire as recently as prior to WWI, there is still a strong germanic influence. Here, two regionally produced food products, pork and apples, are combined in a nice fall roast.

Serves 4
3 lb. pork roast, bone in (4 chops)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 c. white wine
2 c. meat stock
8 cloves
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
1 head fennel, tough outer layers removed, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch dice
kosher salt and pepper
Heat the oven to 400°
Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan, add the meat and sear on all sides until nicely browned.
Pour the wine and meat stock into the pan, and add the cloves, mustard, and sugar. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and bring to a boil. Add the fennel and apples, cover the liquid with foil, and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 350°, and continue to roast for until pork reaches and internal temperature of 130°.
Remove roast from pan and let stand. Remove the foil, place the pan on a burner, and mash the apples and fennel by pressing down with a spoon. Cook over high heat until thickened and caramelized. Check seasoning.
Slice roast into chops, place a spoonful of sauce on the plate, with the chop on top of it.